Venezuelans rally for and against embattled Maduro on revolution anniversary

Buoyed by the defection of a top general, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido predicted Saturday the month of February would be "decisive" in determining the future of the nation as he and socialist leader Nicolas Maduro held competing mass rallies in the capital. National Assembly head Guaido, 35, had called Saturday's protest to ramp up the pressure on Maduro to step down, ten days after stunning the world by declaring himself "interim president" of the oil-rich but crisis-wracked country. The United States recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president on January 23 while four major European nations -- Britain, France, Germany and Spain -- have said they will do likewise unless Maduro calls presidential elections by midnight on Sunday.